I'm slightly bored and the Finnish railway's customer magazine Matkaan ('On the way') has published a semi-interesting interview of a Mr Holopainen you might know so unless someone is currently translating/has already translated it, I think I'm giving it a go. To be continued. Original here: http://www.vr.fi/fi/index/asiakaspal...aan-lehti.html

King of Contrasts
It’s the contrasts that make a happy life for Tuomas Holopainen, the captain of Nightwish.

The Nightwish keyboardist and song-writer Tuomas Holopainen arrives in the pub to the minute at the agreed time. He’s wearing dark jeans and a brown leather jacket, with a huge face of Donald Duck gazing from under it.

Nightwish returned a few weeks ago from its first European tour to promote the Imaginaerum album (2011) and has performed for more than a hundred thousand fans in large arenas. The world-class band’s every-day life on tour is often something between circus and chaos due to a large number of variables in play, and anything can happen. This is one of the reasons why Holopainen, when at home, enjoys quiet and unhurried free time.

“I like my mornings long. Nothing is as horrible as to wake up in a hurry,” says Tuomas.

Romantic Composer

When Nightwish was starting out as a touring band in the beginning of 1998, it had a sound technician and a single roadie. During the latest European tour, the technical crew amounted to 50 people. Three busses and four trucks are now required to transport the crew and the equipment.

“I feel compelled to make songs and to include extremely personal things in my lyrics; otherwise I cannot function as a member of the human species. It feels like my head is exploding and overwhelmed if I can’t get them out somehow. Then again, I take it to the extremes to keep my privacy. Sharing grief makes my own grief easier when 5,000 people are singing along to a very personal song during a gig.”

“That’s the only way keep music and lyrics genuine. Folks can relate to genuine feelings. People come up to me and say that this has given them comfort because I feel the same way. It makes me feel good when I have been able to touch and make an impact on others while not trying to touch and make an impact.”

Passionate Writer

An item on Holopainen’s to-do-list is currently a theme album based on Don Rosa’s comic album Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, planned to be realized next year after Nightwish has returned from its tours. The album will mainly be instrumental, atmospherical music to be created with Pip Williams, Nightwish’s trusted orchestrator. This will be preceded by the premiere of Nightwish’s own Imaginaerum movie.

There have been many turning-point experiences along Tuomas’s career. One of the finest ones was the recording of the orchestral parts for the Once album (2004) in London. It was the first time when Nightwish cooperated with the musicians of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

“I didn’t know what to expect. I only knew that they are really hotshot musicians and that Pip Williams is a legendary figure. The first song recorded by the orchestra was Ghost Love Score. It was an incredible experience. The guys had never even heard the song, they just played out of the sheets! I wetted my eyes and had to swallow a bit, it sounded so amazing. I never cry publicly, but there I was thinking ‘Oh bloody hell, I can’t believe this!’”

(Edit: I really had to add this one; Matkaan apparently shares content with Metro Live http://metrolive.fi/jutut/artikkeli/...-nukkui-auton/, which has basically the same interview on its website, but includes the following detail that Matkaan leaves out and I find rather amusing. It's about the initially modest touring conditions compared with today's huge outfit.)

“In the early days, we drove to gigs with my dad’s car. The gear was in a trailer, and our guitarist Emppu slept in the trunk.”

Meh, he probably had plenty of room in there - Just poke a few air holes and give him a little plush turtle to hug and he'll be good to go.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pere

“In the early days, we drove to gigs with my dad’s car. The gear was in a trailer, and our guitarist Emppu slept in the trunk.”

Ok, I'm DYING of laughter trying to imagine him curled into a ball in the trunk of a Cadilac Seville with a pillow cushioning his head from whacking into the toolbox that usually ends up in the trunk, and splayed out on the spare tire.

Kiitos, Pere! We've added this to our Facebook so all the OSAers can read your awesome translation.

Seriously, I would have thought that bit about the album based on Scrooge McDuck was an April Fool's joke or something, if it had been about anyone else. But because it's Tuomas...I totally believe it.

Taimi: You've never seen the picture of Emppu in the dryer? Google it!!!

__________________~"Feeling lonely and content at the same time, I believe, is a rare kind of happiness" —Nightwish~

Kiitos, Pere! We've added this to our Facebook so all the OSAers can read your awesome translation.

Seriously, I would have thought that bit about the album based on Scrooge McDuck was an April Fool's joke or something, if it had been about anyone else. But because it's Tuomas...I totally believe it.

Taimi: You've never seen the picture of Emppu in the dryer? Google it!!!

Hell yes I have! I've also got pictures on my harddrive of him stuffed in a freezer... he's incredibly flexible, obviously.

A new sort of interview with Tuomas with Noisecreep. They followed him around Disney's California Adventureland. It is mainly about Disney related things. A cute video of him on some rides etc.
It is posted to our Tumblr also!

A new sort of interview with Tuomas with Noisecreep. They followed him around Disney's California Adventureland. It is mainly about Disney related things. A cute video of him on some rides etc.
It is posted to our Tumblr also!

Desi: Thanks for that! We had a feeling Tuomas might be scoping out Disneyland and thought about coming into town a day early; but my friend couldn't get the day off work, and my boyfriend would have blown a gasket if I'd been gone another day. You know men, they can't survive without us!

I love how Tuomas pretty much repeated everything he said in our interview about loving theme parks.

__________________~"Feeling lonely and content at the same time, I believe, is a rare kind of happiness" —Nightwish~

Ok, I'm DYING of laughter trying to imagine him curled into a ball in the trunk of a Cadilac Seville with a pillow cushioning his head from whacking into the toolbox that usually ends up in the trunk, and splayed out on the spare tire.

Ben: We posted this on our Facebook, but Tuomas and Jukka both made statements recently that they would not be addressing the split with Anette in any interviews at this time.

I am thinking that because of the movie, the two parties are still contractually obligated to each other, thus the reason behind why neither of them have made any real statements about the split. But this is just speculation on my part.

__________________~"Feeling lonely and content at the same time, I believe, is a rare kind of happiness" —Nightwish~

Michčle was kind enough to scan this article from Seiska magazine for us; she also gave me a rough translation in her e-mail. From what she says, the headline reads that "drinking made me depressed" (meaning Marco). She also mentions briefly that the article talks about how Marco feels his bass playing and overall life has improved since quitting alcohol 3 years ago.

He mentions the Imaginaerum movie of course, and says "once they had the means to materialize Tuomas' visions to make a movie, they thought that they should make a go at it, for the opportunity might not present itself in the future. The movie cost a great deal and demanded some personal investment by the bandmembers as well". He goes on to say how taxing touring is, and that he would like to play the Heavy Christmas tour "because it's a good time to stop and reflect with the family, eat well, and take a breather".

One of the captions read: "To drink should be joyous, but when you get more problems, then it's time to quit drinking, says a sober Marco." There is also mention of Floor: "We just want to get this tour over with the honour. Floor's only been with us for a short time. We'll have to see what the future has in store for us."

The small feature on Floor reads the following: "she took things into her own hands very quickly. That they didn't have time to rehearse, they just made a longer soundcheck than usual. That this took a lot of guts from Floor to get involved in the whole thing. Floor will perform with NW until next summer, at least".

Kiitos Michčle, for the scan and the translation!

Enigma, Pere...if either of you two are familiar with this article or have anything else you would like to add, please feel free!

__________________~"Feeling lonely and content at the same time, I believe, is a rare kind of happiness" —Nightwish~

Kiitos, Pere; we actually put this on our Facebook page via the Roadrunner Records site. I'll merge this into the "Nightwish articles/interviews" thread.

We also added another scan (courtesy of Michčle) of another tabloid article, this time featuring Tuomas and his longtime girlfriend, Johanna Kurkela. I was a little "on the fence" about sharing this, but in the end I decided to do it because it mentions that she guested on "Song of Myself", which a lot of fans might not have known. Secondly, considering we are a fan community in a country where Nightwish are not huge celebrities like they are in Finland, I thought this would give fans a unique look at just how big of superstars they are in other parts of the world.

To give a brief translation of the article; it simply states that after four years of togetherness, Johanna has moved into Tuomas’ house as of the end of last year. Although the couple never publicly addresses their relationship, it has been an “open secret” for a long time.

The article also goes on to mention that they have both collaborated together musically; each of them guesting on each other’s projects. Most people may know about Tuomas’ contributions to Johanna’s album in 2009, but many may not have known that she actually recites part of the poem in the Imaginaerum track “Song of Myself”.

Some other quick mentions in the article: Johanna stated that the reason why it took her so long to set up house with Tuomas was because of their constant touring schedules, and kept her own apartment while Tuomas is out on the road. But now that both of them have some “free time” in-between tours (in May for Nightwish; in June for Johanna), now seemed as good a time as any.

Kiitos (again) Michčle!

Edit: We have arrived! Looks like the Johanna Kurkela Tumblr page has Liked our scan and reblogged it too! Wow!!!

__________________~"Feeling lonely and content at the same time, I believe, is a rare kind of happiness" —Nightwish~